“Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me, and when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.' ”
And then it had happened. He describes how as he was travelling, with authority and commission from the highest in the land, an even higher Authority had intervened. He had seen a light from heaven at midday, a light brighter than the burning sun, and it had shone round him, and a voice had spoken to him, and all of those present had been humbled before this light, and they had fallen to the ground. All had had to fall before that glorious light. (This was not mentioned in the previous testimony, but there Paul was emphasising the personal nature of his experience as a Jew, and the Jewishness of the whole experience. He had not wanted to over-emphasise the actual experience as a spectacle. But here before this great crowd of notables he wants to bring out the glory and the worship and submission to the Lord of all, for he wants these people also to fall before Him.
And then the voice had asked why he was persecuting the One Who spoke, and declared that it was a hard thing that he was doing, kicking against the nails in the ox-yoke which were designed to prevent such kicking. For he was a man on whom the Lord had put His yoke, and to struggle in the light of this was foolish. Many of his listeners here had their slaves and their cattle. They would understand exactly what kicking against the goads meant.
Thus a Heavenly Authority had spoken to him, and had informed him that he was taking him for His servant, for His ox, so that he might serve Him. But the leading question then was, Who was this One Who made this demand?
‘In the Hebrew language', probably meaning in Aramaic. He did not want his audience to think in terms of Greek or Roman gods.